1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to data aggregation and analysis and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods for identifying subject matter experts.
2. History of Related Art
Businesses have access to an inordinate amount of data. For example, businesses collect data relating to customers, vendors, sales, inventory, employees, research, competitors, etc. Some of this data is knowingly collected or stored for business purposes. For example, a business may record or store sales numbers for tax reasons and/or for determining whether to expand production or cease production of specific products. However, often there is a large amount of additional data, or metadata, that exists and is accessible by a business, but which is ignored because, for example, the data is difficult to access or the business is unaware that the metadata exists or can be obtained from the data to which the business currently has access. Generally, although not necessarily, this metadata includes mined data that can be extracted from the data that the business collects or generates. Further, this metadata can include trends related to the data available to the business.
For instance, a business may have enough data to determine the amount of time spent per dollar earned from each customer. However, the business may not be able to easily extract this information from the data available because, for example, to determine the time spent per dollar earned may require accessing a number of separate systems and performing some amount of data mining or additional processing. In some cases, to determine the time spent per dollar earned from each customer, a business may need to examine sales numbers as well as the time and resources spent by each employee of the business who was involved in generating the sale. The time and resources to generate the sale could include more than just the time spent by a salesperson communicating with the customer. For example, the time and resources could also include the amount of time support staff (e.g., assistants) dedicate for each customer, the amount of time spent by technical support helping the customer, the resources used (e.g., paper, sample products, etc.), the amount of time sales teams spend to determine the best strategy for approaching the customer, delivery costs, etc.
In addition, identifying subject matter experts (SMEs) within a business is an age-old problem. Although businesses typically maintain job titles and functions at a general level, employees regularly learn new skills and develop new expertise. Moreover, new topics of interest constantly emerge. Particularly in large organizations, it is not generally feasible to know who has already developed expertise on an emergent topic or has solved a technical problem. A common result is organizational inefficiency. Oftentimes, the same problems are solved repeatedly at substantial time and expense.
Moreover, as the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.